Agency leaders are navigating an environment marked by economic pressure, shifting client expectations, and structural change across the marketing industry. In the Agency Core 2025 Research, uncertainty emerges as a recurring theme in how leaders describe the future of their agencies and the industry more broadly. Rather than pointing to a single concern, the data reflects a range of expectations, emotions, and outlooks that vary by agency mindset and experience.

This article surfaces how agency leaders are thinking about long-term industry uncertainty, drawing on reported sentiment, percentage-based findings, and differences across attitudinal segments. It focuses on what agencies report seeing ahead, not on what they should do in response.

Long-term uncertainty appears throughout the 2025 research as a common backdrop for agency decision-making. While not all agencies describe the future in the same way, many acknowledge that change and ambiguity are shaping how they think about what comes next.

• Reported Feelings About The Future Of Agencies

  When asked to describe their feelings about the prospects for agencies like theirs over the next few years, agency leaders selected a wide range of responses. Several sentiment-based findings point to uncertainty as a meaningful part of the collective outlook.

  Reported responses include:

  • 46 percent of agency leaders say big changes are coming
  • 38 percent report being worried about the unknown
  • 51 percent believe agencies will serve a different role in marketing in the future
  • 48 percent believe agencies will always be necessary

  These responses often coexist, indicating that agency leaders do not hold a single, unified view of the future. Optimism, concern, confidence, and ambiguity appear together rather than replacing one another.

• Expectations Of Change Over The Next Few Years

  Expectations of change are not limited to specific agency sizes or specialties. Across the respondent pool, leaders acknowledge that the industry environment is shifting, even when they differ on what those shifts may lead to.

  The research shows that:

  • Nearly half of respondents anticipate major changes ahead
  • A majority expect agencies to evolve in how they create and demonstrate value
  • Only a small minority describe the future as smooth or stable

  Rather than signaling consensus on outcomes, these findings suggest a shared recognition that the next few years may not resemble the recent past for many agencies.

In addition to current sentiment, the Agency Core research provides a comparison between 2023 and 2025 that highlights changes in how agency leaders feel about long-term opportunities. These shifts offer additional context for understanding uncertainty as a growing factor in industry outlooks.

• Changes In Reported Confidence About Agency Opportunities

  One of the most notable changes between studies is the decline in strong optimism. In 2023, 74 percent of agency leaders strongly agreed that they felt optimistic about opportunities for their agency. In 2025, that figure fell to 47 percent.

  This decline appears across:

  • Agency sizes
  • Agency types
  • All attitudinal segments

  The consistency of this shift suggests that reduced confidence is not isolated to a specific subset of agencies, but reflects a broader change in sentiment over time.

• Where Optimism Has Declined Across Segments

  While optimism has declined overall, the degree of decline varies by leadership mindset. The data shows that:

  • Change Seekers report the lowest levels of optimism in 2025
  • Loyalty Builders maintain relatively higher optimism compared to other segments
  • Thought Leaders also report stronger confidence than several other groups

  Even among the more optimistic segments, however, confidence levels are lower than they were in 2023. This pattern reinforces the idea that long-term uncertainty is influencing outlooks across the industry, even where agencies report stability or strength.

Alongside declining optimism, agency leaders also report changing expectations about what agencies will look like in the future. These views reflect uncertainty not only about market conditions, but about how agency roles themselves may shift over time.

• Beliefs About Whether Agencies Will Always Be Necessary

  The 2025 research shows that belief in the long-term necessity of agencies is no longer assumed. When asked about the future:

  • 48 percent of agency leaders believe agencies will always be necessary
  • 46 percent believe major changes are coming to the industry

  These responses indicate that a significant portion of agency leaders hold mixed or conditional views. For many, agencies remain relevant, but not necessarily in their current form or under current operating models.

  Rather than expressing certainty about permanence, leaders appear to be weighing continuity against the possibility of structural change.

• Expectations That Agency Roles Will Change

  More than half of respondents report that they expect agencies to serve a different role in marketing in the future. This expectation cuts across segments and agency types, suggesting that uncertainty is tied to role definition as much as to revenue or growth.

  Reported expectations include:

  • Agencies needing to demonstrate value more clearly
  • Shifts in how strategy and execution are perceived by clients
  • Greater pressure from competition, technology, and client scrutiny

  These expectations do not point to a single future model. Instead, they reflect a shared sense that agency roles are in flux, even if the direction of that change remains unclear.

While uncertainty is widely reported, it is not experienced evenly. The Agency Core attitudinal segments reveal meaningful variation in how agency leaders describe their outlooks and concerns about the long term.

• Perspectives Among Thought Leaders And Loyalty Builders

  Thought Leaders and Loyalty Builders tend to report greater stability in their outlooks compared to other segments. These leaders are more likely to express confidence in their positioning and long-term relevance, even as they acknowledge broader industry uncertainty.

  Within these segments:

  • Optimism remains higher than the overall average
  • Fewer leaders describe themselves as worried about the unknown
  • There is greater confidence in the agency’s ability to adapt to change

  Uncertainty still exists, but it is often framed alongside a sense of preparedness or resilience rather than disruption alone.

• Perspectives Among Change Seekers And Staffing Strugglers

  Change Seekers report the highest levels of uncertainty in the study. This group is more likely to describe concern about the future, difficulty keeping up with change, and anxiety about sustainability.

  Among Change Seekers:

  • Optimism levels are the lowest of all segments
  • A large majority report that finding new clients is harder than ever
  • Many express concern about shifting expectations and competitive pressure

  Staffing Strugglers also report uncertainty, though it is more closely tied to operational strain. For these leaders, long-term concerns are often intertwined with immediate pressures related to hiring, retention, and compensation.

• Where Cobblers’ Kids Fit Into Long-Term Outlooks

  Cobblers’ Kids occupy a distinct position in the data. While they report strong client relationships, they also acknowledge gaps in visibility and pipeline development. Their uncertainty tends to center on sustainability rather than survival.

  This segment is more likely to:

  • Rely on existing relationships rather than future-focused positioning
  • Report inconsistent confidence about long-term growth
  • Acknowledge uncertainty without framing it as imminent threat

  Their outlook reflects tension between present stability and unclear future momentum.

Across the Agency Core 2025 Research, long-term industry uncertainty emerges as a shared condition rather than a singular concern. Agency leaders report a mix of confidence, concern, and openness to change, often holding multiple perspectives at once. Expectations of significant industry change coexist with continued belief in the relevance of agencies, reflecting an environment where continuity and disruption are both present.

The data also shows that uncertainty is experienced differently depending on agency mindset. Some leaders describe the future with relative confidence, while others report feeling unsettled by shifting expectations, competitive pressure, and unclear paths forward. These differences do not point to a single narrative, but instead highlight the varied ways agency leaders are interpreting the same broader conditions.

Taken together, the findings illustrate how uncertainty has become a defining context for long-term thinking in the agency industry. Rather than resolving into clear predictions, the research surfaces how agency leaders are grappling with change, ambiguity, and possibility as they look ahead.